Ghostbusters: The Video Game Update and Multiplayer Details

Share.

The game came, Greg played, and he kicked its ass.

By Greg Miller

I don't think I was expecting the cutscenes in Ghostbusters: The Video Game to look good -- at least not as good as they did during my most recent demo. See, I've been covering this game backwards and forwards since it was announced, and up until last week, every cutscene was a work in progress filled with placeholder stuff.

When I saw the game this last time, that was no longer the case. This time, it was Ray, Peter and the new Ghostbuster we'll all be playing as standing in one of the Sedgewick Hotel's famed elevators. Slimer was up to his old tricks and the team was on the scene to bust the spud. While the game loaded the next section of the title, the camera was centered on the boys riding the lift from the same in-their-face angle as the original film. There was even the "No Smoking" sign behind them.

I ain't 'fraid of full moons.

As they rode along, the vocal talents of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd chitchatted about why the team can't turn on their proton packs around the general public anymore (lawsuit) while the recruit just reacted. Now when I say that I didn't expect these cutscenes to look so good, I'm not saying that they were uber-realistic or anything. What I mean is that the way the faces moved when they spoke, turned to acknowledge one another, and the reactions of the rookie all looked really solid and entertaining. I have no idea if that same effect and feeling will carry over to the game's other scenes -- even though I did notice the rookie now grimaces and turns his head while struggling with wrangling ghosts -- but I dug it.

It wasn't all gawking at faces when Terminal Reality and Atari rolled into the IGN offices to show me Ghostbusters: The Video Game -- there also was a bit of gameplay splashed in to whet my whistle. Sadly, my visitors did decide to show the same architect office bit that I had just seen at the New York Comic-Con (which I had already seen months before) and that jump from the library to the other dimension that I had written about a while ago, but they also showcased the Sedgewick Hotel for the first time.

Before the 'busters even made it to Slimer's old haunt, they started at the firehouse where Janine fielded the call and dispatched the boys. I'm not sure if this is a general placeholder load screen that will be featured along with a few others before every call the team goes on, but I did find it odd that Slimer was hovering by Janine's desk even though the boys were going out to catch him and that the Vigo painting was leaning on the wall in the background. I mean, I guess it could be a reproduction of the original, but we all know that when Vigo was beaten, the Vigo painting morphed into one of the boys and Oscar. I digress -- remember this is just a preview.

Yeah, that ghost is screwed.

Anyway, the Ecto-1 roars away from the firehouse, and we're on the scene. A hotel worker is there to greet the Ghostbusters and complain that the establishment wants its money back since the ghost is back, but Venkman just tells him "You should've taken the extended service agreement." There were a lot of dialogue gems like that in the quick taste of the title I got -- remember, Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wrote the script for this game. Aside from in-jokes from the movies and quips about getting slimed, there was a funny moment when a pretty lady stepped off the elevator in front of the team, Venkman made a quick pass at her and she responded with "Back off, loser; it's never going to happen."

Once upstairs, Ray and the recruit head out on their own while Venkman goes the assumedly safer route. Eventually, the duo stumble upon Slimer downing room service, the new onscreen instructions that pop up in white with a PKE icon next to them showed up, the rookie scanned the ghoul and it flew away. The Ghostbusters give chase and eventually run into the ghosts of some bellhops clad in white and red uniforms. The boys dance around the hotel lobby zapping and trapping and it's the same impressive lightshow we've talked about before. However, this was the first time I have seen the game's upgrade system in action. When you're grabbing these ghosts, you're making money (Beat a Book Golem, make $300.); with this money, you can upgrade your equipment. In this build of the game, there was a $15,000 upgrade that helped focus your blast stream, a PKE scan enhancement and other cool stuff to make GB nerds drool.